Dear City Hall of Eagan, 

My name is Jada, I am a resident in Eagan, Minnesota who is currently working towards becoming a veterinarian and I am 21 years old. This past winter I had a stray cat in my backyard that I named Farel. Farel began coming around in December of last year. At first he appeared to be fine health wise and the only visible thing Farel displayed was being extremely skittish. A few weeks later he visited my house again but this time he had wounds on his head and his paw was injured. I decided it was time to notify Animal control. After I had called Animal Control and was directed to Voicemail I knew it was time to intervene. Due to the harsh winter conditions and The injuries Farel had i began setting the live trap. Within the next day Farel had been unharmed and trapped. I began calling animal control once more to transport him to Companion Animal Hospital but was redirected to voicemail. I then decided to call the non-emergency Police Department phone number where they began to dispatch an officer. Upon arrival of the officer he notified me of the live trapping law in the city of Eagan. Once learning of this law I began thinking deeply of how Farel’s life would have been had i not trapped him. Now you're probably questioning why I felt the need to share the story of Farel. Although I understand live trapping has become dangerous to people due to the risk of being bitten, I strongly believe if I had not taken matters into my own hands Farel would have frozen to death or succumbed to his injuries. You may ask yourself what does a twenty one year old girl know about live trapping. I can assure you during the process of live trapping I was not bitten once and had a very great success story for Farel after learning about his time at Companion Animal Hospital. Which brings me to why I am writing this letter. Although I understand people have been bitten in the past, I would like to suggest and encourage the City of Eagan to alter this law in a way that the community can help these animals safely and ensure them shelter along with proper care in collaboration with companion animal hospital. In addition to this I believe with the help of the community we can work together to save the strays and harmed animals within Eagan. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter all signatures are greatly appreciated